“It’s not over yet… Not over until the end of Bristol,” Denny Hamlin asserted confidently after his challenging performances at Watkins Glen. Despite back-to-back disappointing finishes of 24th and 23rd in the first two playoff races, which put a dent in his championship run, Hamlin wasn’t ready to back down.

He set his sights on Bristol Motor Speedway, a track where he had dominated in the past with two consecutive wins. True to his word, Hamlin bounced back and delivered a strong performance, solidifying his place in the playoffs. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing—his campaign almost came to an abrupt halt, with the veteran driver admitting to some costly mistakes that nearly ended his season early. In his 19th year, Hamlin knew he had to step up his game to keep his championship hopes alive.

Denny Hamlin is more self-aware 

Drafting tracks have been a statement for the No. 11 driver—Denny Hamlin owns five wins at Daytona and Talladega. But the Next Gen car’s debut in 2022 muddled things, as since then Hamlin owns only three top-ten finishes in 17 drafting races. In the most recent one at Atlanta, he and his team tried something new, relying on analytics and waiting for a crash to happen. But Hamlin’s patience amounted to nothing, and he himself got caught in a wreck, finishing 24th. That result was followed up by a disastrous showing at Watkins Glen as well.

So despite being the only driver with a points deficit to recover after Bristol, Denny Hamlin needs to be on his guard. Although he is confident, Hamlin could not help but slip an admission of the ground reality heading into Kansas. “We’re going to just try to win this weekend, then not have to worry about numbers. But certainly, we’re going to approach these three races and try to get all we can and live with the result no matter what it is. You know, we can’t control things we can’t control. But if we just do the best that we can, we feel pretty confident.”

Then Denny Hamlin also confessed that having the point buffer is the most crucial aspect for him to protect his championship hopes. “Certainly, it was closer than we wanted it to be…had to do it all over again. You know, there’s some factors that changed the way I was gonna approach Atlanta after things went down after 40-50 laps…But yeah, certainly, we just don’t have the buffer entering these rounds than what we did before. You use the numbers to try to make the best decisions possible…But the best avenue for us going forward is just to go all out.”

The saddening prospect of another season gone awry exists. However, Denny Hamlin has a glittering chance to excel at Kansas along with his rival.

The two NASCAR studs going to Kansas

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As we head into the first Round of 16 race, Christopher Bell is dominating the headlines. He clinched his third straight NASCAR Cup Series pole, stamping his dominant place at Kansas. However, two veteran Kansas stars stand as huge obstacles in his path. Kyle Larson, the Bristol sweeper, has just one finish outside the top ten in his last five starts. His average finish is 3.4, making his record almost spotless. But Denny Hamlin’s record is actually spotless – he holds an average finish of 2.8. And he is yet to rank outside the top ten in the Next Gen era.

So Hamlin is actually in a brighter spot. Jeff Gluck said, “Denny Hamlin came closest to elimination, but that’s partly because of his unprecedented engine penalty that took away some of his valuable points.” Indeed, if such bad luck does not set in again, then Hamlin is sure to make some jaws drop at the upcoming race.

So Gluck unequivocally voiced his opinion that the JGR driver is well on track to a coveted title. Hamlin “should have a great chance to reestablish his championship hopes at Kansas (where he led the most laps in the spring race before finishing fifth). Hamlin, the active Kansas wins leader with four victories, has an insane 2.8 average finish in the five Next Gen car races at Kansas.”

Apparently, opinions are mixed about Denny Hamlin’s prospects. We can only root for the veteran and wait for him to perform at the racetrack.